


Morning Lilies

by yahootoldyou



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Dark Obi-Wan Kenobi, M/M, More angst, Smut, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, happy-ish ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2018-12-26 00:17:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12047328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yahootoldyou/pseuds/yahootoldyou
Summary: “What does it mean, Mom?” Her baby boy asks and the woman bends down, kissing his forehead softly. The marking is on his upper thigh and this is the first time he’s asked about it, the two year old looking down with rapt fascination at the black mark. She hesitates, not quite knowing how to say what she should.Her son’s mark…Itscaresher.OR: another soulmate au





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is inspired by all of the other amazing soulmate pics in the obikin fandom... they're all so painfully good and I couldn't help but try my own on for size.
> 
> hope all of you enjoy!

_When a person is born, they’re born with the burn of another’s soul, the marking etched somewhere on their body for them to find when they’re old enough to understand what it means._

 

 

“What does it mean, Mom?” Her baby boy asks and the woman bends down, kissing his forehead softly. The marking is on his upper thigh and this is the first time he’s asked about it, the two year old looking down with rapt fascination at the black mark. She hesitates, not quite knowing how to say what she should. 

Her son’s mark…

It _scares_ her.

The mark is a swirling black spiral, one lone gold center within the mass. She frowns in concentration, not knowing how to phrase her response. 

“It’s the mark of your other half, my darling boy,” she says, trying her best to smile and not worry her son. She will do whatever it takes to protect him, of that she is absolutely positive. 

Her boy doesn’t even look up at her though, his small brows furrowing as he investigates his soulmark. 

“Will it match my soulmates?” He asks, the concept easy and wide-spread enough that even a young boy like her son has some basic comprehension. She smiles and shakes her head, even though he isn’t looking up at her. 

“Maybe, Obi-Wan, but I’m not sure… Sometimes they match, sometimes they’re a set; like two pieces to a single puzzle,” she says, knowing her son doesn’t understand when he frowns, finally looking up at her. 

He’s too young now to get it, to understand the basic fear in her eyes. 

She knows that most people never meet their soulmate, but her Obi-Wan has always been special…

She cannot shake the feeling of impending danger that comes over whenever she looks at the mark on his thigh. 

He had found it so early on, much too early to understand it and she understands for one brief moment. 

Whoever Obi-Wan’s mate is or will be… They’re _powerful._ Powerful enough to make themselves known before their time is right. 

She shudders involuntarily, her son coming up to sit on her lap and snuggle against her chest. She strokes his hair, thinking of ways to keep her dearest child safe. 

 

 

When two Jedi show up at her door, she understands. The power that she has feared for so long is within her son already, is a part of him. 

The only way to protect him is to let him be taught. He needs to know how to protect himself…

She hands her crying baby boy to the Jedi, tears streaming down her face and warns them, 

“His mark… It already exists. I fear fate has horrible plans for him.” The darker skinned Jedi nods once keeping her son steady in his arms as the boy tries to fling himself back at his mother, but it is the smaller green Jedi who comes forwards, taking her hand into his much smaller one. 

“Keep him safe, the Jedi will. A promise, this is,” he says and she nods, letting them take her precious little one away from her. She watches the ship take off into space and feels part of herself ripped away with him. 

_He needs to be safe, the Jedi can save him,_ a voice in her mind reassures her, but she takes herself to bed anyway, dreading what she will tell her own mate when he returns home from his latest shipment.

And mourns the loss of her heart. 

 

 

Mace looks at the mark, Yoda and himself taking the moment to check it out as soon as the boy is asleep. He’s only a padawan himself, but Master Yoda hums. 

“A black mark, unique it is… _Dangerous,”_ he says and Mace may only be in his early teens, but even he can make that assumption. The scary part is, as he sits there, he realizes that not even Yoda has an explanation for it. 

Mace returns to piloting the ship, knowing he will help keep this little one safe. He deserves it. 

 

 

 

_In some cultures, the presence of a black mark is a warning of danger, a warning that the person themselves may possess the darkness._

 

 

Qui-Gon is shell-shocked when the boy asks him to be his master, the hope in his eyes almost moving him to say yes. 

He’s never agreed with the way Jedi deal with rejected initiates. 

But he had already lost one son to the darkness, he could not bear another. 

So, with a deep sadness, he turns young Kenobi away, rejecting his proposal to be his master. The mark of a dark soul on his thigh tells Qui-Gon everything he needs to know. The potential for another Xanatos is there… 

The little boy with red hair and sparkling green eyes has the potential to betray Qui-Gon. 

A blow to his heart Qui-Gon would not survive.

And so, Obi-Wan Kenobi will not be trained. 

 

“Master, we cannot allow Kenobi to leave this temple without a Master,” Mace practically pleads, but Yoda is stubborn.

“The master for young Kenobi, Qui-Gon _is._ Notice it, he has to,” Yoda says, a scheme very clearly being planned behind his eyes and Mace sighs heavily, a heaviness falling on his shoulders he feels may never leave him again. 

 

When Qui-Gon storms back into the temple, giving Yoda the stink eye and declaring Obi-Wan Kenobi to be his padawan, Mace nearly falls off his chair in relief.

They give Qui-Gon permission to train Obi-Wan and when he sweeps out of the room Mace turns to Yoda, eyes wide and amazed. 

“That was quite the gamble, Master,” he breathes and Yoda smiles, smacking Mace in the leg with his gimer stick. 

“A gamble, nothing is, when the force, on my side it is,” he snarks and Mace rolls his eyes, shielding his legs from further attacks. 

 

 

 

_Marks are meant to identify the other soulmate, a permanent etching of the other’s soul that makes their identity clear. It’s almost impossible to misidentify a mark._

_But it happens._

 

Maul snarls as his saber rips open the leggings of the younger Jedi, revealing his soulmark on his thigh. The baby Jedi was fast and strong, escaping the near amputation narrowly. 

He hisses as his eyes widen, the mark on the boy’s thigh calling to him. He shoves his baby Jedi mate to another level, taking on his master with a ferociousness settling into his blood. 

The boy is _his._

This man will not be allowed to take him, not now not ever. 

He backs the older Jedi into the generator, the shields separating them only temporarily, but the time is enough. Obi-Wan has run, using the force to enhance his movement, and catches up just barely with the fight, the shields still keeping him separate. 

Maul is grateful. 

He never wants to fight his mate again. 

He can see the black swirl on the boy’s leg and snarls as the older Jedi pounces towards him when the shields fall, attacking quickly with fast jabs. The Jedi is skilled, a fine warrior, but he is old and Maul is young. 

Eventually his attack _will_ break…

And when it does, Maul shoves one end of his saber into the man’s gut, hearing his mate roar in pain and anger. 

He turns to face the boy, but he’s met with an angry blow from the boy’s saber. Maul is surprised, wondering why the boy doesn’t recognize him as his mate.

_He should’ve by now…_

Maul throws the Jedi off of him, sending him over the edge, hands just gripping the edge, his weapon tumbling to the bottom of the pit.

“Little-“ He starts, interrupted as his mate calls his fallen master’s blade to his hand, flipping over Maul and slicing him in half. 

Maul feels little as he falls backward, wondering how he hadn’t noticed. 

It had been his pride willing him to believe the dark power of the boy’s mate was his own. He doesn’t possess _nearly enough_ to have caused that mark. 

He reflects gloomily on this as he hits the bottom. 

 

 

 

_Marks can be painful when they arrive on one’s skin, the reveal indicating the soulmate may lead a life of pain and misery._

 

Anakin gasps in pain as his upper arm burns in agony. He flails to the ground, remembering the old stop, drop, and roll rule to putting out fires. He feels his skin engulf in flames, the pain swallowing his very own screams as his mouth hangs open in soul-deep pain and suffering. 

Obi-Wan grabs a cold towel from the kitchen, rising it with water quickly and dashing to his padawan’s side, pressing it down on the mark that has appeared on the boy’s arm. 

There, etched in Anakin’s skin so deep the skin has enflamed, redness surrounding the mark is a morning lily, native to few planets, but always beautiful. 

Among the planets, there are only a couple Obi-Wan can remember; Stewjon, Naboo, and Alderaan being in the bunch. 

The morning lily only blooms on sunny days and is so delicate and precious it is picked often and is a symbol in the galaxy for femininity and beauty. 

Obi-Wan’s favorite part of the flower though, is the thorns that grow, thick and jagged from the stem of the beautiful blossom. A defense mechanism, a way to keep itself safe. The flower remains fiercely independent. 

His padawan is only thirteen standard years old, but his soulmate is _beautiful_ and _strong._ Obi-Wan shoves his jealousy deep down and hopes the boy never asks about his own mark, the thing he keeps deepest in his soul. 

Obi-Wan’s soulmate is a _monster,_ a being of immense dark power, a person he strongly never ever wants to meet. 

Anakin whimpers as Obi-Wan rubs the mark too harshly just once and it startles Obi-Wan back to the present, the older boy keeping the mark cool and shushing is squirming padawan. 

“It’s all right, Anakin. Shhh,” he soothes him gently, “your mate is beautiful, you’re very lucky.”

Anakin hiccups through his sobs, nodding to his master in response. 

 

 

 

_Sharing bonds is intimate, it should only be done if the person absolutely trusts the other individual they are baring their soul to._

 

Anakin is fifteen when he asks Obi-Wan what his soulmark looks like. Obi-Wan hesitates, never having shown it willingly before, but Anakin is his brother, his padawan. 

Obi-Wan feels he should show him. 

Anakin _should_ know…

If Obi-Wan is ever compromised, if he is unable to do what must be done because he loves the monster at the end of the blade, Anakin must finish it. 

And if that involves killing Obi-Wan himself as well? 

_…So be it._

He will not allow the galaxy to be put in danger by whatever monster shares his soul. 

Even deep in thought, he stands, closing the door to their quarters and then slowly making his way back to Anakin’s side. He lowers his leggings carefully, knowing exactly where on his thigh is etched with the mark of his doomed fate. 

Anakin gasps, smaller fingers brushing over the black swirls and his eyes are protective as they move back up, settling on Obi-Wan’s face with a concentration Obi-Wan has never seen there before. 

“I will protect you from them, _I promise,”_ he whispers sincerely and Obi-Wan feels his heart warm at the words from his brother, pulling his leggings back up and hugging the boy tight. 

His Anakin is so caring, he makes Obi-Wan so proud everyday. 

 

 

 

_Wishful thinking can often blind those who wish to find a soulmate… They have an idealized picture they can’t shake and it often ends up hurting the ones they love._

 

Anakin thinks Padmé is absolutely gorgeous. The kind of pretty that one fantasizes about, but can never achieve. 

In his mind, the only beauty rare enough to deserve the mark on his arm is hers; the precious, delicate morning lily of his heart. 

Padmé Amidala has to be his soulmate, he’s sure of it. When he met her all of those years ago the attraction was immediate, was heart wrenching. 

He has loved her since he was nine, has dreamt of her every night…

It’s _her._

_It has to be._

So when Mace Windu alerts Obi-Wan and him that they will act as her personal guards given Obi-Wan’s old connection to her, Anakin is far too quick to accept, jumping on the chance. 

Mace eyes him wearily, but when Obi-Wan calmly accepts the mission, he slowly averts his eyes from Anakin, focusing on his master. Anakin would feel angry, but he’s too excited. 

_He can’t wait to see Padmé again._

 

She’s as beautiful as he remembers, her hair luscious, her eyes shiny. She smiles up at him and he feels as though he’s basking in the warmth of Tatooine’s twin suns. 

What he doesn’t feel though, is the reach of their souls to become one, even now that they’re both old enough to recognize the markings. 

Padmé isn’t his soulmate, isn’t the one he is meant to spend his life with. 

Anger; pure and undiluted rises in his chest, his heart feeling as though it’s being swallowed in the waves that rise in his throat, threatening to suffocate him. 

Then he shoves it down, ignoring the worry in Obi-Wan’s eyes. 

He stumbles over his greeting to the senator and tell himself that it’s okay. 

Most people never meet their soulmate anyway…

He loves Padmé and he thinks she may love him too in time, he only has to be patient. 

He ignores the twinge of pain from the mark and makes his move regardless. 

 

When he marries her, the force practically screams that he shouldn’t. Anakin ignores it, swooping down to kiss his bride, the woman who threw herself his way when she feared death to be at their door, and feels a sick sort of possession come over him. 

Padmé is _his._

It doesn’t matter if another being matches her mark. 

She belongs to him and he’ll be damned if anyone takes her from him. 

 

 

 

_The loss of a mate, even unrecognized, can drive the other half to madness. Either with grief or anger… This is the way of soulmarks._

 

Anakin feels a chasm open in his chest when he sees Obi-Wan lying dead in Ahsoka’s arms. The wind seems to hollow out his brain, filling it with nothing but silence. It is enough to drive him mad. 

He spends the next few days wallowing in his own insanity, the grief and anger overwhelming in its intensity. 

“Master, are you all right?” Ahsoka asks and Anakin ignores her, shoving past her and heading to the funeral where he will watch over Obi-Wan’s body until it is safely in the ground, unable to be wounded or hurt any further. 

Then he will hunt the _scum_ that has stolen his master from him far too soon. 

 

The attack is swift and quick, Anakin launching before Ahsoka can stabilize their landing and before she can go with him. He needs to catch Obi-Wan’s killer if it’s the last thing he ever does. 

Their fight is brutal, his and Hardeen’s, interrupted by Cade Bane. Anakin has no time to deal with the man who wears weird hats and quickly works to get rid of him, his anger quickening his movements as he fights. 

When Hardeen tackles him, wrestling him into a hold he can’t escape, the movements seem almost _too_ familiar… 

And when he whispers, accent crisp and coruscanti, _“Anakin don’t follow me,”_ Anakin collapses, brain fried. 

He is so, _so angry..._

But Obi-Wan is alive, and his soul seems to settle instinctively. 

_Obi-Wan is alive._

Somehow that’s all that matters. 

 

 

 

_When one soulmate meets another before the second is old enough, the mark may not be recognized until their souls are completely bared to each other once more._

 

Qui-Gon smiles, bringing his new pathetic creature into Obi-Wan’s view. The child is small, a shock of blond hair on his head, bleached by the rays of twin suns local to the planet Tatooine. The boy is nervous, shaking slightly and Obi-Wan takes pity on him, smiling at the boy kindly. 

“Anakin Skywalker, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Qui-Gon says and Obi-Wan sticks out a hand to the small boy, grinning at him just a tad. The boy seems apprehensive to take Obi-Wan’s hand, but when Obi-Wan grins, his face splits open wide, his smile infectious. 

“Are you a Jedi too? Pleased to meet you!” He cries and Obi-Wan chuckles under his breath. 

He isn’t sure if his master is right, if the boy is the Chosen One, but he knows the boy is important somehow. 

So he allows himself to sit in Anakin’s company while his master attends to business with the queen, enjoying himself. 

Not that he’ll ever admit to it. 

 

 

 

_Secrets between soulmates will cause cracks in the soul that can only be remedied by mending the bond. Especially if the bond is between two force sensitive individuals._

 

Anakin regards Padmé in the night light, scared from his nightmare of her death. She is radiant even now, but her beauty seems dimmed. He cannot lose her, she is the only part of his life he has left. 

Obi-Wan does not trust him. 

The Council hates him. 

The Chancellor seems to be hiding something from him these days. 

The victory of killing Count Dooku can’t even be celebrated with the weight of his nightmares nearly breaking his back. 

He has too much on his shoulders. 

“Maybe… Maybe we should ask Obi-Wan for help?” She suggests and the suggestion sends ice down his back. 

He cannot tell Obi-Wan of his relationship with Padmé. It would ruin everything. 

Obi-Wan would rat him out, being two invested with the Jedi and the code.

And then Anakin would lose Obi-Wan, something he simply cannot bear. 

“We don’t need his help, my love… I can handle this on my own,” he insists and he means it. He _doesn’t_ need Obi-Wan’s help for this, he can do it on his own. 

“If you’re sure,” she says and it’s hesitant, making annoyance show in his eyes. 

“Do you not trust me, Padmé?” He asks and she startles backwards, out of his grip. 

_“Of course!_ Of course I trust you, Ani,” she assures and he walks back into her space, curling her into his arms and kissing her forehead. 

 

Anakin goes to the chancellor for help, knowing he should at least attempt to talk it through with him. When the Chancellor offers to teach him the ways of the dark side, his soul screams and Anakin turns him in to Mace Windu. 

It’s the right thing to do. 

But if he does the right thing, he knows he will lose Padmé…

And not thinking, Anakin chases after the master Jedi, knowing he has to stop them from killing Palpatine. 

His soul cries, but Anakin ignores it. 

 

 

 

_When one of their hearts break, it is said a soulmate can feel it no matter where they are in the universe._

 

Obi-Wan’s heart shatters when his clones shoot him off the side of the cliff. Boga falls and he falls with her, grateful to his new friend for taking the brunt of the hit for him. 

The water is cold as he submerges, taking his breathing device from his belt and swimming deep, looking for an entrance into a cave. When he finds it, he climbs out, waiting for the moment he can slip back to Grievous’s ship. 

He doesn’t let the tears fall as the force screams around him, knowing duty comes first, but his heart lies in shards in his chest. 

 

And when he views the tape at the temple, witnesses the boy he’s loved most of all cut down their fellow Jedi,

watches Anakin _slaughter innocent children,_

his heart nearly gives up, nearly collapses into his chest and dissolves in the fire of his own pain. 

Yoda is soothing behind him, even as the master eyes the younger man’s thigh wearily. 

Yoda feels he may have already met the mate that will take Obi-Wan from the Jedi. 

Or, he figures too late, take the _Jedi_ from _Obi-Wan_ , leaving the man exposed and ready. 

Yoda has seen the mark of the morning lily on Skywalker’s arm, native to Stewjon. 

_He should’ve known…_

He sends Obi-Wan to Mustafar anyway. 

He has no choice, they must destroy the Sith. 

 

Anakin feels his mark burning as he makes his way through the temple. 

Feels it burning as he goes to Padmé’s apartment. 

It’s there that he understands his mate to be a Jedi. Which means… If they aren’t dead yet, they will be _soon._

He figures it’s a good thing he has Padmé’s survival guaranteed to him now, since his mate will meet their end due to his own actions. 

It’s when he’s just about reached Mustafar that his soul rips open, the pain almost too much to bear, but he swallows it down and continues to pilot his fighter. 

Whoever he’s hurt, he’s sorry, but their life together was never to be. 

His heart was Padmé’s. 

_What about Obi-Wan?_ A voice asks in the depths of his mind, but Anakin shoves it back.

Obi-Wan is _dead._

And if he survives then… Then Anakin will deal with that when he has to. 

 

 

 

_When souls are exposed, it will be painful, the burn will turn the marks red and they will sink into the skin, disappearing forever, linking the soulmates together for eternity._

 

Anakin is arguing with Padmé when he looks up, making eye contact with Obi-Wan in the entrance of her ship. He lashes out at his wife in anger, choking her even as his rabid eyes turn on Obi-Wan, the fire raging in them hot and desperate. 

Obi-Wan feels it when he does, the burning of his thigh and his chest. He cries out, body hitting the ramp of the ship with a thump. 

Anakin screams, falling to his knees and ripping at his robes as if freeing his chest to the scorching hot air will stop the burn. 

Eventually, Obi-Wan stumbles to his feet, holding the edge of the ship as he checks for what he is sure just happened, even if it threatens to destroy what remains of his heart. 

He lowers his leggings, looking at the spot on his thigh that had always scared him, had always been a symbol of why the light should thrive and flourish in the galaxy. 

But the black mark is gone, absorbed into his skin as his soul links to the monster across from him who has just choked his wife. 

_“You?”_ Anakin screams, frantically pawing at where his mark used to reside on his upper arm, _“How?”_

Both of their marks are gone and their souls connected, but it doesn’t stop Anakin from launching at Obi-Wan viciously. 

 

Their blades are locked, their eyes meeting above the blue plasma, eyes full of tears and skin flushed with sweat and heat. Anakin looks at his former master closely for a moment, notices the beauty he has always willfully ignored and he _knows…_

He knows it’s been Obi-Wan all along. 

Should’ve known when he went mad with grief during the Hardeen accident. 

Padmé is a lovely flower, but Obi-Wan is his morning lily, delicate and strong all on his own. 

And just like that, his love for her is swallowed, engulfed in the way his soul sings for the man next to him. 

He smiles with manic glee as he thrusts both of the lightsabers from their hands towards the wall with the force, connecting his body with Obi-Wan’s as he kisses him for all he’s worth. 

Obi-Wan gasps, his mouth opening and Anakin takes advantage, enjoying this sweet moment as their souls burn as one. 

It is a pleasure he has never felt before. 

And then he rears his fist back and punches Obi-Wan as hard as he can, sending the older man sprawling to the ground. 

 

As he steps over Padmé’s corpse, he whistles, Darth Vader making off with his true mate and feeling ready to rule the universe. 

She isn’t quite dead and he raises her body with the force, carrying her behind them. 

He needs to save his children after all. 

 

 

 

_Soulmates can never kill each other, it is almost physically impossible. The ability to cause physical harm to your mate is often suggested to be as painful as burning to death, although the theory has never been tested._

 

Obi-Wan sits against the wall, his head slumped to meet his chest and his legs spread. He’s given up on escaping, the man with sulfur eyes keeping him under close watch. 

Anakin has become something Obi-Wan doesn’t recognize.

Something he just doesn’t understand. 

The man in black enters the room, chilling the temperature as he does, eyes finding his mate’s face easily. 

“Would you like to see the twins today?” Anakin asks and Obi-Wan lifts his head just a fraction, eyes flicking up to meet Vader’s. He looks for a moment before putting his head back down. 

He can’t hurt Anakin, had found that out when he tried to punch the man like Vader had done to him on Mustafar, but Anakin is truly powerful.

_Obi-Wan should’ve known that…_

Even beyond experience, anyone that could make a soulmark appear on a two year old has to be immense strength in the force. 

Anakin scoffs, “You think ignoring me will solve anything? You’re a lot of things, Obi-Wan, but you’ve never been a fool.” He sweeps from the room with a swish of his cape, but Obi-Wan knows he’ll be back later. 

He always comes back later with more offers and promises Obi-Wan has no interest in hearing. 

More touches and kisses Obi-Wan wishes he wanted to deny. 

The sickest thing of all, after everything that has happened is that;

Here and now, despite it all, chained to a wall with his freedom stripped and the Jedi dead…

_Obi-Wan loves him._

Obi-Wan loves him enough to kill for him. 

So he stays on the wall, because as soon as he sets himself free…

He isn’t sure _anyone_ will be safe. 

After all, soulmates are reflections of each other…

And he never wants to discover the part of himself that makes him Vader’s.

 

_Excerpts from: “Soulmates: What We Know So Far” by S.M. Klose_


	2. Lilies in Bloom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a follow up to the original one-shot. takes place 3 years after the first chapter.

_Soulmates have a difficulty being separated, it feels like there’s someone else pulling your heart of your chest slowly._

 

Vader shoves his way through the door to his quarters, rushing to the closet to rip off his imperial garments. Obi-Wan won’t even look at him if he has them on, something he has learned through many trials and errors. 

He goes into the bedroom and finds his soulmate still chained to the wall on his bed. 

“Have you been to the bathroom?” He asks, knowing a guard comes and asks every hour, but still wanting to check. Obi-Wan has to be locked up until he’s loyal to Anakin again.

He just wants Obi-Wan’s love. 

The man doesn’t answer, just lets his head hang against his chest, the new shagginess to his hair allowing it to fall in front of his eyes. 

Vader moves to the other side of the bed, laying down flat and maneuvering his head so that it’s on Obi-Wan’s lap. He gazes up into the eyes of his soulmate like he has for the last three years and lets himself wonder what life would be like if Obi-Wan would willingly be by his side. 

“What can I do? It’s been three years, Obi-Wan. I _need you-“_ Fingers clench his jaw tightly, keeping him from speaking anymore. 

He grunts against the hold, but steel gray eyes keep him stuck where he is. Obi-Wan still refuses to speak to him, just allows his fingers to dig into Anakin’s face, threatening a bruise that would make his master most displeased. 

Something about it sends want curling in the pit of his belly though, and he shifts uncomfortably in the hold of his soulmate.

“Obi-Wan?’ He forces the question out and his soulmate finally cracks, releasing his hold on Anakin and slumping against the headboard. Anakin sighs in his lap, rolling up and off and going to see his children. 

Obi-Wan _will_ crack at some point, he’s sure of it. 

 

 

 

_Soulmates can feel each other’s emotions from short distances, if the bond is strong enough. It almost always happens between force sensitive pairs._

 

Obi-Wan is enjoying one of the few times he’s let out of his gilded cage, the twins being particularly well mannered today. They smile and greet him with welcome arms. 

Over the last three years, and the few and far between visitation sessions, he’s come to discover they love seeing him just as much as he loves seeing them. They yearn for the man with a purer soul, one who will protect them instead of loom over them like an obsessive, possessive storm cloud ready to strike his loved ones down with his lightning. 

The line between Vader and Anakin has become too blurred, the man often frightens his own children from what Obi-Wan can tell and it’s _unacceptable._

Luke and Leia should not be looking forward to visits from Obi-Wan at the age of three, they shouldn’t care who is in the room or who isn’t. 

_But they do._

And it becomes frighteningly clear that Obi-Wan has been selfish allowing himself to stay on the bed. He’s lost his way.

A _real_ Jedi would never allow these innocent children to be hurt in any form, even if their existence and their father’s infidelity towards both him and the Jedi Order burn his soul from the inside out. 

Padmé had been a good woman, a good friend even. She had always tried to do what was right, even when it meant her death in the end. 

The least Obi-Wan could do would be to guard her children with his life. 

To give them a life Padmé would have wanted for them. 

Anakin has left him with the twins for a couple hours and they watch holoflics and eat whatever the droids bring them, enjoying their afternoon before Vader returns. 

It’s nice. 

When he does, Obi-Wan leaves quietly, knowing he’ll see the twins very soon.

The nest time Vader asks him to join him…

Obi-Wan is going to say _yes._

 

 

 

_When you have a soulmate, the bond weakens your defenses against your other half. A mind, for force sensitives, is often more accessible then it would be otherwise._

 

_“Beg,”_ he orders, his voice terse and his eyebrows furrowed. 

“What?” The Emperor’s pet whimpers as Obi-Wan stares at him blankly, not repeating himself and not elaborating. Vader grovels, dropping to his knees at the edge of the bed. His eyes are wide and fearful as he stares unashamedly at his soulmate. Obi-Wan bares his teeth in a sneer.

Vader stares before the words apparently settle in and his mouth opens as he climbs on the bed. He crawls forward to where Obi-Wan is sprawled, one hand in the cuffs, up against the wall. 

Slowly, he takes Obi-Wan’s left calf into his palm, fingers pressing into the softening flesh there as his eyes get dark. Obi-Wan’s eyes follow his every move, bland and vaguely uninterested. 

Vader lifts the leg to his mouth, kissing just next to wear his thumb indents the flesh and he trails downward, all the way to the ankle before he meets Obi-Wan’s gaze. 

“Please forgive me, my love. _Please,”_ he whispers hoarsely, kissing just below his ankle where his foot begins and Obi-Wan’s breath hitches.

“Please,” he repeats, kissing further down, eyes impossibly dark and the air starts to feel hot, Obi-Wan’s breath coming in harsh gasps. 

_“Please,”_ he says and it’s barely audible and impossibly enticing. 

Obi-Wan lurches forward, grabbing his soulmate by the hair and dragging him towards where he’s chained near the polished durasteel headboard. 

_“I’ll think about it,”_ he says, licking a savage stripe up Vader’s cheek, letting the man switch their positions until he’s straddling Obi-Wan, whose hand is still buried in his hair. 

He dips down, nosing along Obi-Wan’s jaw and nipping at various times.

He starts to grind their hips together and Obi-Wan moans, letting Vader kiss him like an animal who hasn’t eaten in weeks. They’re panting into each others mouths, eyes closed and Obi-Wan growls, ripping at Anakin’s shirt. 

“Take me, Obi-Wan,” Anakin begs hips rolling as he throws his head back, releasing a grunt. 

“You’d have to unchain me, Ani,” he sneers, leaning up and biting down on Vader’s jugular, righting where his shoulder starts and enjoying when Vader bucks harshly. 

“No, I wouldn’t,” he laughs crudely, launching off the bed and ridding himself of clothing piece by piece, humming to himself. 

“Stop singing and get over here, Anakin,” Obi-Wan bites, trying and failing to rip his wrist from the cuff. He has long since stopped feeling the pain as his skin breaks, blood oozing lightly down his wrist. 

Vader climbs up on the bed and takes his wrist, licking the blood up slowly, dragging his tongue up the side of the man’s arm. They lock eyes as he does so and it disgusts Obi-Wan as much as it turns him on. 

“You’re _vile,”_ he hisses and Anakin smiles viciously up at Obi-Wan, taking Obi-Wan’s non-cuffed hand and guiding to where he needs to be stretched open. He bends over, facing away from him and sticking his ass up in the air, enjoying the feeling of having Obi-Wan’s eyes all over him. 

Obi-Wan slides two fingers in at once, enjoying the tight feeling on his fingers and the harsh breath that Anakin releases as he does so. He scissors his soulmate a bit, adding a third and then eventually a fourth finger, enjoying the light puffs of air Anakin breathes out against the bedspread. 

When he’s ready, he spanks Anakin once, a harsh smack of his palm and Anakin spins, leaning up and kissing him savagely. Anakin snakes skilled hands into Obi-Wan’s pants, roaming for a second before hooking on the waistband and pulling them off slowly, only briefly separating from their kiss as he lowers the leggings to Obi-Wan’s ankles. They continue like that as Anakin positions himself and lowers down, fully sitting himself on Obi-Wan’s cock. 

He moans loudly, starting a rhythm and Obi-Wan throws his head back, letting Anakin take control for a little while. 

When they’re done, Anakin falls against Obi-Wan’s chest, breathing heavily and Obi-Wan pets his hair lightly, a cruel smirk on his face as he tightens his grip and pulls Anakin’s head back. 

_“Unlock my cuff, sweetheart,”_ he hisses and Anakin hums, forcing Obi-Wan to put more of the force into his words. 

_“Unlock my cuff and let me hold you,”_ he says again and Anakin finally moves, his orgasm hazy mind allowing Obi-Wan to mind trick him. 

The cuff unlocks and Obi-Wan allows himself to hold Anakin for a moment, content to have his soulmate in his arms and know that now that he’s been freed, he’s finally got the upper hand. 

 

 

 

Soulmates love all parts of their soulmates. If a soulmate has children prior to their bonding, the pair will basically take them in as their own. 

 

Obi-Wan walks down the corridor of the star destroyer, two twins on either side. They aren’t his children, they aren’t really related to him in anyway. 

But Obi-Wan is not cruel. And to leave two defenseless toddlers in the hands of _His Imperial Lordship_ alone would be a fate perhaps worse than death. 

They are the children his soulmate had with another, something that burns him deep down in the part of him he likes to ignore. 

Since the destruction of his world and life three years prior, he has spent most of it chained to a wall in Anakin’s bedroom. He only left for appointments and also to see these two children who Anakin wanted him to bring into his heart so they could be a family. 

The children have grown on him, they have become things he cares very deeply about. They may not be his own children, but they are a piece of his soulmate. 

His soulmate who has chained him to a wall, killed his family, forced a new family onto him, and stolen his Anakin away.

Now, all he is, is a _monster._

And he’s dragged the other half of his soul into darkness with him. 

“Obi-Wan, can we get treats?” Leia asks and he smiles down at her, scooping her up with his one arm and keeping Luke’s hand still tightly within his own. 

“I’ll ask your father’s cook if they’ll make us cookies to go with our holoflic okay?” He asks and Luke cheers below as Leia nods happily. 

 

Imperial officers look at the three of them, but they say nothing. The last time someone had said something about Lord Vader’s soulmate, they had been found with their eyes gorged out of their head. 

And the worst part of the rumor? It apparently _wasn’t Lord Vader_ who did the gorging. 

The officers want to believe that the ginger haired man who is so good with the Imperial Prince and Princess isn’t as evil as his soulmate. 

But the rumors only get _worse_ from there. 

The man has no name they can call him, but some say he’s a…

A _Jedi._

A general who lost his mind after Operation Knightfall. 

Lord Vader is visibly Anakin Skywalker, a General from the war who was known as the Hero With No Fear. For clone troopers left over from the government transition- _and there weren’t many of them_ \- they know who the ginger haired man is. 

They fear the new found information more than anything else. 

If General Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Master and Council Member, The Negotiator, has turned to the dark side, they’re all more doomed then they thought. 

Cody watches the man walk down the hallway, muted horror in his eyes and he knows. 

The rebellion has to be alerted of the new danger. 

Vader and Sidious, they’re arrogant and conceited with their power. 

_Obi-Wan?_

Force help them all. 

 

 

 

_Soulmates are not capable of true deceit unless it is absolutely necessary, and usually only as a way to keep the other safe._

 

_Obi-Wan wants the Empire._

He didn’t think he did, but now that he’s been left off the wall for a while and gotten Anakin underneath his thumb, he _wants it._

He wants it so bad he may _kill for it._

But he won’t kill Anakin. Not _his_ Anakin. 

“Obi-Wan?” His baby asks from under his arm, the beast tamed for now. Obi-Wan hums, eyes closed and he runs his fingers absentmindedly through Anakin’s unruly curls. 

“Yes, dear one?” 

“If you want anything from me, anything at all, I’ll do it,” he says, grasping Obi-Wan’s hand tightly in his own and pressing a kiss to it. Obi-Wan considers this, considers this phase of begging for forgiveness that they’ve entered. 

Will it be enough for Anakin to switch his allegiance?

There may never be another time to ask. Obi-Wan pushes down his bitterness and his pettiness, knowing what he wants to say. 

_I want you to burn in the flames of Mustafar for what you’ve done to me._

Instead he says, 

“I just want our family to be _safe_ , Ani. You, me, and the kids… I don’t know, I just… I would feel so much more secure if we were the ones in charge.” Anakin stiffens in his arms, looking up at him. 

“Is that what you want?” _Oh, no…_ Obi-Wan almost wants to cackle in his soulmate’s face. 

It’s too _easy._

“I just want to be safe,” he says again and he sounds pathetic, even to his own ears. 

“Then you and I will rule the galaxy, Obi-Wan. We’ll make things the way we want them to be,” he mumbles tiredly and Obi-Wan sighs happily. 

Anakin will kill Sidious and Obi-Wan will get the Empire and his beautiful Anakin by his side. 

With the power, the family, and his soulmate, maybe Obi-Wan’s heart will stop feeling like it’s on fire. 

 

 

 

_Soulmates have a power over each other that seems almost unnatural. It can become unhealthy if one is too dependent on the other._

 

“Hold him steady for me, Ani,” Obi-Wan hisses, blue eyes coming level to the Emperor’s own gold. When Obi-Wan is sure Anakin can’t see, he allows the gold to slip into his own eyes and enjoys the brief flash of fear that appears on the Emperor’s face. 

“My, _my,_ Master Kenobi,” the sickening man chuckles, “how far you’ve fallen.” His laugh grates on Obi-Wan’s nerves, causing him to snarl as he rids the man of his hood, revealing the hideous creature underneath. 

“Oh, your highness, your taunts are so _cute,”_ he emphasizes the last word, booping the Emperor on the nose and laughing as if he had told Obi-Wan the funniest joke he’d ever heard in his lifetime. 

“Lord Vader, what is this?” Sidious finally asks, wondering when his apprentice will end this game. When he does, Lord Sidious will punish him to the brink of death for allowing such a thing to happen. 

“Oh, don’t worry about my lovely Anakin here, this is about _you_ and _me,”_ Obi-Wan drawls, moving backwards to lounge in the Emperor’s throne, blue taking the place of gold once again. 

Sidious nearly growls. 

He should’ve known Kenobi was too dangerous to be left alive. 

_Soulmate or not._

“You see, Palpy, you’ve taken quite a lot from me over the years. My Master, the Jedi, the Republic, my Duchess, my dearest love Anakin, my _autonomy…_ Not anymore, though,” the man says, standing languidly and stalking towards Palpatine like he is very much so the prey to Obi-Wan’s predator. The gold slips back into his eyes as he nears Palpatine’s face, bringing his own close to the disgusting man’s ear. 

“I won him back in the end, you old hag, and now him and everything else you’ve worked for will be mine,” he laughs lightly as he backs away, calling forth the force and Anakin’s lightsaber to his own hand. 

“Now, your highness, you _will_ die,” he laughs again and Anakin is nearly paralyzed from seeing the gold in his soulmate’s eyes. He can’t even protest when Obi-Wan swings the red blade around, decapitating the Emperor and bathing Anakin in the blood that spurts out. 

“Obi-Wan?” He asks hesitantly and the smiling man beckons his bloody lover towards him with one hand, his smile never faltering and golden eyes blazing against the dark backdrop of the room around them. 

“Oh, Ani, my love, finally we can change things for the better,” he whispers and although Anakin is covered in the blood of a tyrant, Obi-Wan kisses him for everything he’s worth, the blood adding a metallic taste to both of their mouths. 

Obi-Wan savors it, savors the power he can feel buzzing around himself in the force. 

He doesn’t see the worry melt away in Anakin’s eyes to a look of pure victory. 

Obi-Wan can think he’s the winner of this all he wants, but it is Anakin who has succeeded in gaining his wildest dreams. 

 

 

_Some soulmates are bound for the light, a good path of righteousness, while some are bound to the darkness. When a pair of soulmates has different marks, one for light and one for dark, it is a toss up to see where the pair will land; on greatness or madness._

 

When Obi-Wan is crowned Emperor, Anakin at his side, the galaxy does not weep, it rejoices. 

A _Jedi_ has returned. 

They will set things _right._

_Except…_

The Emperor’s pet, his chief enforcer now stands beside Kenobi, holds the man’s shoulder possessively. 

Rumors spread, harsh ones about Obi-Wan being the monster’s soulmate and being forced to sit on the throne. 

About Obi-Wan turning to the dark side to be with his lover. 

Not a single one is completely right, but they’re not completely wrong either. 

Obi-Wan sits on his throne and enjoys them, loving the fact that he is feared and loved in equal fashions. 

“Ani, my love?” He asks and his soulmate comes to the front, giving his Obi-Wan a lewd look, making the man giggle. 

“Yes?” He asks, voice deep and gruff.

_“Bow,”_ he demands and loves when Anakin’s eyes bug out of his head. 

_“Wha-“_ Obi-Wan shuts the man’s mouth with the force, smiling condescendingly at his lover. He gestures smoothly towards his feet and Anakin rolls his eyes, but he does what he’s asked.

Slowly, his boy lowers to the ground and bows his head like he used to for Palpatine, except now, a black gloved hand juts out, taking the calf of Emperor Kenobi’s left leg and bringing it up to his lips. 

He presses three kisses to the boots, solidifying his allegiance to Obi-Wan completely.

“You’re so beautiful like this, Ani,” he giggles and Anakin gives him a wolfish grin, one that promises dark things for later. 

 

 

 

_I have been commissioned to write this novel by the Emperor Kenobi himself, he wanted the truth to be known galaxy wide about the dangers and benefits of soulmates. I thank him sincerely for the opportunity to share my knowledge with you all._

 

Obi-Wan leans back, expensive robes draped around him lavishly, his soulmate an impressive vision in black behind him. Bail Organa and Mon Mothma are sitting across from them, slightly sweating as he still hasn’t said anything yet. 

He _knows_ they’re afraid of him, even as he asked them here to discuss a peace treaty with the fledgling rebellion they have formed. 

Once he had understood what it is the rebellion wanted, he knew exactly who is behind it. He had known Padmé Amidala and her associates well enough to know who would fight using her death as a martyr story to inspire resistance. 

He and Bail were even friends in another life, bonded together through their shared pain on Zigoola and everything that had followed.

They used to get drinks. 

Obi-Wan knows how much it puzzles the galaxy, his reappearance after years of radio silence. He wishes he could share the truth, it would no doubt sway all rebel factions into believing his story, but he must protect his lovely boy. 

_His_ Anakin. 

And he can’t do that if they’re believing Lord Vader to be the monster who chained his soulmate to a bed for three years. 

Lord Vader is a monster. He’s beaten and bruised Obi-Wan in the past, driven to pure anger by his words, but Obi-Wan has tamed his beast, has leashed him. 

_Anakin Skywalker is his._

And they will rule the galaxy together until their children take it from them. 

“Hello, Bail. Mon,” he greets them both, his soulmate behind him still striking fear in their hearts, even as he knows he is enough to do that on his own. 

“Obi-Wan… What is this?” Anakin starts at the casual use of his first name, moving forward, but Obi-Wan stops him. 

“It’s all right, Ani. Bail and I are good friends,” he says, his smile chilling to the bone. Bail sits as far back in his chair as he can, eyes wide and Mon stays silent, the brilliant woman she is. 

Obi-Wan clasps his hands together, smile predatory. 

“We need to talk about your little rebellion.”

 

 

_And beyond all else, soulmates have the ability to be happy like no other couple in the galaxy. They work, they make sense, and force help the people who try to separate them._

 

Anakin snuggles his face into the crook of Obi-Wan’s neck, inhaling the scent of his soulmate and groaning lightly. Obi-Wan giggles. 

_“Ani,_ not in front of the kids,” he forces out through his laughter, moving away from Anakin who just misses when he reaches out to catch him and stop him from leaving. 

“Obi,” he complains, but Obi-Wan is moving over to the living area, popcorn and treats in his hands as he settles in on the sofa next to the children. 

Luke and Leia will have to begin training soon, both political and force wise, and he can’t wait to teach their little angels everything they know. 

They will be strong, fierce, unstoppable, and hopefully better than their parents. 

More centered in the light. 

Although he has fallen and enjoys his time in the dark with his soulmate, he knows his children must be Jedi for the sake of the galaxy and he readies himself for when he will send them away. 

Leia to Bail to learn how to reestablish democracy and Luke to Yoda to learn how to rebuild the Jedi Order from the ground up. 

They will be enemies, this he knows and although it pains him…

It’s what needs to happen. 

He will deal with Anakin when the time comes. 

For now, they all settle in to watch the holoflic Luke chose before they got home. 

Anakin settles in next to him, wrapping his arms around Obi-Wan’s waist and Obi-Wan allows himself to be happy. 

“So, Luke, what movie did you choose?” 

 

_Very simply, a soulmate means happy ever after. Reality, however, is never that simple._

 

_More excerpts from: “Soulmates: What We Know So Far” by S.M. Klose_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again, i don't plan on continuing this but if anyone has great ideas, you should share them! it may inspire a third chapter!
> 
> thank you all for reading! i promise to update my other works soon!

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! let me know what you think in the comments below!


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